This competitive renewal of the comprehensive Research Training Program in Rheumatic Disease Research at DAB (Director: R.P. Kimberly) builds on established strengths in immunology, immunogenetics and clinical research and incorporates enhanced programmatic emphasis in neuro/behavioral and translational studies. This program centers on interdisciplinary fundamental and clinical research in arthritis and musculoskeletal diseases. The traditional strengths of the UAB Training Program have been enhanced by the formation of collaborative groups and by selective recruitment of faculty in the areas of immunology and inflammation (Chaplin, Chaudry, Matalon), immunogenetics (Allison, Kaslow), neurobehavioral research (Bradley, Barnum, Blalock) and clinical research (Kiefe, Saag). This research base is coordinated through the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center (AMC) and consolidated by several key grants, including the MCRC, P01 in SLE, CERTs, GCRG, and ACE. The Clinical Research Training Program (PI: Moreland) provides clinical investigators with the intellectual and administrative skills essential for the design and execution of .informative clinical studies and trials, together with a background in state-of-the-art basic science knowledge. Programmatically, an effective interdisciplinary research experience is implemented by incorporation of required coursework into each individual research plan formulated by the mentor and trainee and by an interdisciplinary enrichment program, both developed in conjunction with Dr. Kimberly and the Executive Committee (Drs. Alarcon, Carter, Kiefe, Moreland, Mountz, and Saag). To provide rigorous and timely oversight of this interdisciplinary program, a series of benchmarks for progress will formulated for each trainee and mentor and will be reviewed by the Program Director and Executive Committee on a semi-annual basis. The overall performance of the Program and its direction will be evaluated annually by the Training Program Advisory Committee (Collawn, Darley-Usmar, Justement, Koopman) and by the Extramural Advisory Committees of the AMC. The performance of the 22 trainees supported in the past 10 years (5 MD, 4 MD/PhD and 13 PhD) is described in detail, and 95% of trainees completing training since 1996 continue in research in industry (1), government (1) and academia (19). Funding is requested for four pre-doctoral and three postdoctoral trainees. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]